Fees and services: what separated the freeman (or free farmer) from the
villein – After paying rent for his land, the freeman owed only
nominal services to the manor lord, whereas the villein owed the manor lord
innumerable “fees”, including: tithes to the Church; a yearly tax called
tallage; the
wood-penny; fees to grind their grain at the mill; a hen or eggs
for permission to keep poultry;
merchet;
heriot (the villein’s best beast or chattel forfeited to the lord of the manor
when the villein died); mortuary (the villein’s second best beast or chattel
forfeited to the Church when the villein died); and many more. A villein also
owed “services” to the manor lord, including
week-works (a certain number a days per week the villein was
required to work on the lord’s
demesne)
and
boon-works (extra days a villein
was required to work on the lord’s
demesne,
usually during the height of harvest season). Villeins could also be summoned
to help with repairs around the
manor
or at the manor house
(villeins pay fees in the form of money and animals to their lord)
